The Great Effects of the Three Gorges Project

摘 要：三峽工程修建于1993年至2009年，它的建成對于長江中上游沿岸的防洪、發電、灌溉、旅游以及生態環境等方面產生了深遠的影響，也為長江中上游地區帶來了巨大的經濟效益，本文旨在探討它對人民生活及社會經濟在以上幾個方面形成的影響力。

關鍵詞：三峽工程；防洪；發電；灌溉；旅游；生態環境

Abstract：As the largest water conservancy project in the world，the Three Gorges Project began in 1993 and will have been completed by 2009.At the very beginning，some people objected the proposal fore fear that such a large project would result in some serious environmental and social problems.However，during the construction，it has revealed that the Three Gorges Project would create benefits of flood control，electricity generation，navigation business，tourism，ecological environment and the economy of China，and it is the fruit of wisdom and hard working of China.

Key Words：The Three Gorges Project； Flood Control； Electricity Generation； Navigation； Tourism； Environment

中圖分類號：TV122 文獻標識碼：A 文章編號：1006-026X（2012）09-0000-02

1.The Reason for Constructing the Three Gorges Project

The Yangtze River is the mother river of China，which is more than 6000 kilometers and covers a drainage area of 1.8 million square kilometers.The abundant products and resources on both sides of the river make the plain in the middle and lower reaches a developed region in economy.The Yangtze River has irrigated the glorious civilization along it，also it has brought the middle and lower reaches into the grip of disaster.During the recent decades of years，the human beings have been shouldering more and more from the environment and resource crisis caused by the rapid growth of population along the Yangtze River.

To solve the problem of existence and inadequate food and clothing，people have excessively cut down the forests and opened up sloping fields improperly，and it has resulted in serious soil erosion.To settle the problems of food control from the root and guarantee the safety of people’s lives and property，the construction of the Three Gorges Project was finally projected on that day.

2.A Brief Account on the Three Gorges Project

As the largest water conservancy project in the world，the Three Gorges Project，mainly consisting of a dam across the river，a power plant and a navigation building，is of great importance in harnessing and exploiting the Yangtze River.The preliminary plan ratified a static budgetary of 90.09 billion yuan for the project，50.09 billion of which was for the key water control project，and the rest 40 billion was for the aftermath of the reservoir storage and the migrates as settlement allowance.

The construction of the Three Gorges Project is divided into 3 phases，lasting 17 years in all.In the first phase from 1993 to 1997，preparations were made and the project began.On November 8th 1997，the Yangtze River was successfully dammed，marking a perfect end of the construction task of the first phase and a start of the second，which lasted from 1998 to 2003.In this period，the reservoir accomplished the initial storage，the first generator units began to work and the two-way ship lock of scale-5 was opened to navigation.2003 is considered as a milestone during the whole construction.The project entered into the third phase in 2004，and has been carried out according to the schedule all-sided.It will be finished in 2009 with the sign that all the generator units begin to work，the key project is completed and the ship lift is put into operation.

3.The Social Effects and Economic Returns of the Three Gorges Project

The Three Gorges Project has tremendous benefits of flood control，generating electricity and navigation.It will offer a great amount of clean electric power to the east，south and central areas of China where the economy is flourishing but resources are short； it will improve the ecological environment of the Yangtze drainage area； and it will promote the economic development in the poor west region and accelerate the economy of the Yangtze drainage area even the whole nation to develop comprehensively and sustained.Along with the 3 goals of storage，generation and navigation have been successfully achieved during the second phase，the social effects and economic returns of the project are getting obvious with each passing day.

3.1 Benefits of Flood Control

Our government decided to construct the Three Gorges Project mainly to prevent flood.The dam across the river，which is a gravity dam built with concrete，is 185 meters high to the top.When the storage of the reservoir mounts to the normal water level of 175 meters，the overall storage capacity can reach 39.3 billion cube meters，and 22.15 billion cube meters of it is effective storage，which can effectively control the flood from the upper reach and help the Jing River to prevent a most serious flood in a hundred years.

Under the present construction，the Three Gorges Project，according to the preliminary design approved by our government，has not set a storage for flood control and it does not have to undertake the task.The water level has been lowered down under 135.7 meters before the flood season comes，and there is a storage capacity of 2 billion cube meters from 135.7 meters to 139.8 metes，which is the cofferdam’s highest holding level.Moreover，another 1 billion cube meters can be added to the storage capacity if it is in an emergency.The total storage capacity of more than 3 billion cube meters，which surpasses half of the flood storage of the Jing River’s flood-diversion area，can be used to slow down the flood water and alternate the flood peak，thus the lower reach will bear much less pressure of flood control.

3.2 Benefits of Electricity Generation

There are 26 giant water turbo generator units working in the Three Gorges power station，and the overall installed capacity is 18.2 million kilowatts.The annual average electricity generation is 84.68 billion kilowatts-hour.

Since July 2003 when the first group of generator units went into operation，there are 10 generator units having merged to generate electricity，the installed capacity of which reaches 7 million kilowatts，and the Three Gorges plant，whose daily generation is 1.68billion kilowatts-hour at most，accounting for one thirties of the whole nation’s daily electricity consumption，has become the largest hydraulic power plant in China.Nowadays，along with the rapid development of our national economy，the electricity demand keeps a trend of continuing increase，and a situation of tight supply has been arisen in greater parts of our country，especially in last summer when the shortage of electricity came up to 25million kilowatts.So being put into operationin time，the generator units of the project have contributed a lot to alleviating the contradiction between electricity supply and demand all over the country.Up to November 2004，the electricity generation had added up to more than 45.8 billion kilowatts-hour，and supported the resources of the center，east and south of China as well as Sichuan and Chongqing.

3.3 Benefits of the Tourism

We have to admit that it is deeply regretted that the construction of the Three Gorges Project will make some famous landscapes vanish under the water.However，it will give a greater impetus to the Chinese tourism than ever.It brings the tourism of the Three Gorges not a historical opportunity for advancement，a vast space for exploration，but also a predicted huge economic returns.

All the power stations of grand scale in the world are globally well-known scenic spots.The visitors coming from domestic regions as well as many other nations to the Three Gorges are increasing by 20% each year.The Three Gorges will ally itself with Zhangjiajie，Wudang Mountain and Shenlongjia to form a super scenic spot for sightseeing and rest.The glorious landscape of the Three Gorges will bring an income of 20 billion yuan each year to the tourism of China.

4.The Conclusion

Nowadays，the domestic economy of China has been pushed forward into a new period.While the gross domestic product is increasing rapidly and the pace of industrialization is quickening，the resources and environment have become the main restrictive factors.Thus，to develop hydraulic power positively accords with the guiding principle for the sustained development of China in the 21st century.Being one of the significant projects，which will contribute to the realization of the strategy of sustained development in China，the Three Gorges Project has tremendous social effects，economic returns and ecological benefits.The construction of the project has poured strong motive power into the development of Chinese economy.It will do help to the improvement of the ecological environment of the Yangtze River； drive the economy of the dam area to advance all-roundly； and promote the sustained development of the Yangtze River valley and as far as the whole nation.

參考文獻：

[1] 楊復言 《三峽暢想》， 北京：人民教育出版社， 2008